Boys Without Names

Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth

I really do hope that I am at the end of the contest to write the most tragic, although true, tale. This is my fourth Caudill Nominee for 2014, and aside from Ghetto Cowboy, each is more heartrending than the last. Access to these books is rightly important for our privileged children. They are essential for us to read in order to see the picture of the world at large. Such novels would hopefully provide at least an ounce of perspective to the child who declares, “I’m bored.” Alas, I am not too terribly hopeful. The masses will continue to wind their way to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate. These poignant stories can be a hard sell to the majority of their intended audience.

Gopal is the oldest son of an onion farmer in rural India. A young son might think that one year’s bumper crop would guarantee next year’s planting. The laws of supply and demand will prove him wrong. Gopal’s family never had much money to begin with, but now the small family is not only impoverished, but also deeply in debt to the money lenders. Baba, father, decides that the family must move to the big city, Mumbai, to live with an uncle while working towards a better future. What is more, the family must sneak out of their rural village without saying goodbye to friends in order to escape the punishment of the money lenders.

Young Gopal does not seek charity. In fact, he wants to find work to help support his family. His uncle works hard to ensure that Gopal will have a place in school next term. Uncle supplies clothes and notebooks. The more that is given to Gopal, the more he feels compelled to earn his own way. When a charismatic, yet strange young man mentions factory work, Gopal is intrigued. He doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to help his family. Gopal takes the bait as well as a cup of tea that is laced with a sedative.

Gopal wakes up in the “factory.” It is a small, two story shack. The boss has an office downstairs. There is a hole in the ceiling where a ladder can be placed. Upstairs are five more young boys sitting at desks gluing colored beads onto frames in a specified pattern. Gopal joins them. They work most of the day and sleep in the same room at night. They come downstairs for tea and meals when they have worked hard and caused no trouble. They get a bath once a week from a bucket that they share. No one talks. No one knows anyone’s name.

Gopal, a practiced storyteller brings a little life and laughter to the dismal group, but the joy brings pain and punishment. The boss’s job is to keep the boys at odds and in factions to prevent mutinies. There are beatings, lashings, humiliations and withholding of food. Some of the boys lie to acquire rewards as small as a cup of tea or a bite of bread. But in the end, the stories win and they hold the small, powerless group together long enough to survive. It is an amazing thing – the power of a name as well as the power of story.

It is stories like these that make me want to keep my own children in sight. This is a great book to support any discussion/education of child labor in third world countries or the slave trade of children. It is nice that the book has a happy ending. I am sure most stories like this one do not.

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers

It was that time again. We were out of books to read at bedtime. Forget the fact that I had forty plus books stacked beneath my bed representing the cream of the crop. I had Caudill nominees and Newbery winners, but nothing that looked or felt like family story time. There was nothing that fit the bill – no fairy tales, dragons or comedies that I could see. What they wanted was another Beastologist and that was the one thing I couldn’t provide.

I remember the day I set out to find something new. Something similar. Something appropriate. There wasn’t anything close to the Beastologist that I could find that didn’t have something wrong with it. Too old. Too scary. Someone dies. And, confidentially, I wanted something new myself. Something I hadn’t just read. Something I wanted to read when I had time. And what I finally chose, the only thing I actually brought home, was Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos.

In the end, I chose it because it is written by the same author who wrote the Beastologist series. I adored the character’s name… my middle name is Theodora. And I had begged for a reason to read it. I was still concerned however. While I was relatively certain that my younger daughter would relish it – she grows to be more like me every day, I was also fairly confident that my older daughter would shy away from it. It is everything she doesn’t like.

You see, Theodosia can see black magic and ancient curses. She practically lives in a museum where sinister forces lurk in dark hallways. Her mother, an archeologist, brings an artifact back to the museum that is cursed more and worse than anything Theodosia has ever witnessed. And of course, it is up to Theodosia to remove the curses and return the artifact to its resting place… in Egypt. If she fails in her task, Britain will fall into chaos and the rest of the world will follow.

So I am completely and utterly stunned, although thrilled beyond all measure, that this book received a resounding SIX THUMBS UP! And there are already three more in the series! They are begging to begin book two! I’m completely flummoxed. Theodosia can be every bit as dark and sinister as Harry Potter, especially the latter volumes of the series. People are attacked and killed. Theodosia herself works Egyptian “voodoo” magic to slow the villains down.

Theodosia is an Hermione Granger from the 1920’s. Although she should be in boarding school, she has chosen to stand her ground and stay home. She teaches herself hieroglyphics. She reads ancient Egyptian tomes, studies Egyptian magic and creates magic amulets to protect herself and her loved ones from evil. When a recipe for an antidote doesn’t exist, she takes her quite substantial knowledge to create her own antidote from scratch!

Despite the fact that Theodosia has a gift as well as a natural talent for the art, her parents and their colleagues view her as a child without much to offer. And that irks and irritates her. It isn’t until she discovers a secret organization on the side of good against the Serpents of Chaos, that she is finally seen for the asset that she is. It is a blooming shame that she has to keep the organization and her ties to it a secret!

Recommended to girls 5th through 8^th grade. The protagonist is young, eleven-years-old, but the book reads older in my opinion. I am guessing there will be a large dash of World War I conflict added to the mix in the future!

Ghetto Cowboy

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

When I first saw this title on the Caudill Nominee List, I couldn’t help but chuckle. The title is made up of two seemingly disjointed words. “Ghetto” makes me think of the inner city and concrete and tall chain link fences. “Cowboy” makes me think of wide open spaces, traveling and horses. I couldn’t imagine any two things less alike. And the people who are cowboys would hardly wish to be in the city and vice versa. Fish out of water. But I recognized the author’s name, G. Neri, unforgettable. He wrote Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty and won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. I started to look forward to it.

At 218 pages; with many, full-spread, eye-catching, black and white illustrations; and short chapters that dig right into the action and move forward lightning fast; this book is aimed directly at the African-American reluctant reader – specifically boys. The conflict begins page one and the reader is hooked. I raced through the first three chapters until I was halted with my first jarring image.

The novel starts with Cole and his mother in their car traveling from Detroit, Michigan to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother has just found out that Cole has missed the last four weeks of school. Not only has he been lying about it, but he has been destroying all evidence that the school has been attempting to make contact with her. He tells her that he hasn’t been doing anything wrong, however he hasn’t been doing anything right either. And Cole’s mother is at her wit’s end. She is driving Cole to stay with a father he has never met, much less even known about.

Is he ever in for a surprise! Cole’s father is a cowboy in inner city Philly. In fact, Cole’s mother left him because he loved his horses and his work with horses more than he loved his wife and newborn son. His father, Harp, saves up his money to purchase horses that are retired from racing. He rescues them from being made into dog food. He stables the horses in a part of the city that has been run down and left abandoned. He encourages inner city kids to learn how to care for and ride the horses to keep them off of the street corner and out of no good. Despite a lack of funding or support from the city, the program is successful, but now the city is looking for a way to shut Harp down and reclaim the land to make money.

Cole doesn’t want to stay with a stranger. Cole wants a second chance at home. But he makes an uneasy friendship with a new horse and in no time, his heart is invested in the animal. When Animal Control removes the horses stating that they are malnourished and ill-treated, Cole is spurred into action. He learns to live the Cowboy Way, “no matter what, never ever give up fighting when the chips are down. Real cowboys never give up.” And he spurs the old-timers, including his father, into action.

I really hope this book’s cover catches some eyes. I truly enjoyed it. Makes me wish we had some horses downtown to take care of and ride – especially for the kids. My only complaints were as follows. I wish it were longer. I wish it hadn’t moved so fast. As an adult, I had a hard time believing everything happened so quickly. (Cole went from being afraid of the horses and wanting nothing to do with them to falling in love with one overnight.) But the book wasn’t written for me. And the kids it is meant for will appreciate getting to the meat quickly without a lot of fanfare.

(This book was an exceptional treat that I didn’t anticipate. Even the quality of the paper of the novel was luxurious. Pick one up. This is the way books are supposed to feel!)

Words in the Dust

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

The second 2014 Caudill Nominee I picked up to read had one thing in common with Wonder, the first nominee I read. Their main characters both have facial deformities. Auggie of Wonder has a rare syndrome that produced severe problems and required more than twenty surgeries thus far and will need additional ones in the future. He will never look normal. Zulaikha was born with a cleft palate. Her lip is split in half all the way up to her nose. Her nose is affected as well as her teeth. Her front teeth stick out forward. Cleft palates are not a problem in the western world and are usually fixed at birth. Zulaikha lives in Afghanistan. She is nearly a teenager and her family is unaware that her problem can be easily fixed. After reading Zulaikha’s story, Auggie seems like a spoiled brat.

Words in the Dust is a promise made and fulfilled by an American soldier who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. His unit discovered a girl like Zulaikha and when American soldiers see a child in need, they set out to fix it. In the process, the author discovered a story that needed to be shared. He had felt the victim of the terrorists that carried out 9/11, but he discovered that the Afghani people were more the victim, especially the children, and in particular the girls. This male American soldier chose not to tell his story, but instead, the story of a young Afghani girl. The American soldiers are not the improbable heroes coming to the rescue. They are the bumbling, socially backward, strangers who manage to change one aspect of a young girl’s life. And he is successful! Twice, in my opinion.

Zulaikha is the daughter of an educated Afghani woman, a woman who loved classic Afghani poetry and shared it with her children. Zulaikha’s mother was killed in their home by the Taliban for keeping forbidden books in her possession. Zulaikha’s father had two wives. His second wife shows no love to Zulaikha. The young girl job is to cook and clean and run errands and watch her younger half-brothers. Another baby is on the way. Zulaikha’s future won’t change unless her father can arrange a marriage for her. Her disfigured face is a problem.

Accidently, Zulaikha runs into an old friend and teacher of her mother’s, Meena. Meena offers to teach Zulaikha how to read and write – complete the task Zulaikha’s mother began. Zulaikha learns in stolen, infrequent, moments. Education offers an alternative track for the young girl. Education would not be hindered by her appearance. The most thought-provoking portion of the book comes after Zulaikha is offered the chance to fix her appearance and Meena asks her, “If you had your surgery and you looked normal, what would you do?” The alternative to education would be marriage… and this is the second unexpected success of this book.

Zulaikha has an older sister, Zeynab. Zeynab is beautiful and of marriageable age. Through the course of the book, her marriage is arranged, to a successful business man three decades her elder. Zeynab will be the third wife. She will be the young and beautiful one, but she will also have the least seniority. She will cook and clean and watch the many children by day and she will satisfy her new husband at night. If Zulaikha’s story is one of hope, Zeynab’s is one of despair.

This is a beautiful book that gives American children a glimpse of the world of the Middle East. We do not realize how wonderful we have it. We are unaware of how bad things could be and how bad things are in other countries. I would highly recommend this book to 5^th through 8^th graders as well as older. It is a powerful, thought-provoking story based upon truth. And it is not entirely easy to read. Spoiler… Zeynab dies a tragic, horrible death.

Splendors and Glooms

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz (audio book)

Here it is! I have read all of the Newbery winner and honor books and I have MY official winner. If I were the 2013 Newbery Committee, I would have given the Newbery Medal to… Splendors and Glooms! I would have awarded ONE honor medal to… Bomb! I still back Bomb as a winner, but since it did receive three awards this year, AND because Steve Sheinkin had a great true story to work with, I give Laura Amy Schlitz the medal. These 384 pages came straight out of her head.

Once upon a time, there was a witch who acquired her power through a stolen gemstone – a fire opal. The fire opal was also her curse. It sabotaged her health even as it filled her with influence over those around her. It would also claim her life if she refused to give it up. One of those under her sway was a young magician. Well, he was young at one time. He was a master puppeteer as well as an accomplished thief. He wanted the opal and tried to make it his own, but he didn’t understand the rules even though he was aware of the curse.

This is neither the witch nor the magician’s story, but they are our villains. The magician took his business to London where he recruited a helper from the workhouse. His new ward, Parsefall, is a young orpheling whose future was dim until the magician chose him. Parsefall learned the business, both puppetry and pickpocketing and he excelled. The magician ensured that Parsefall would never leave him through macabre means. Parsefall would not leave. His thoughts are filled only of mastering his skills with the puppets. He is an uneducated street urchin. He is dirty and doesn’t mind.

One child was not enough for the magician. He also acquired a young girl when her actor parents succumbed to cholera. Lizzie Rose is the polar opposite of Parsefall. Lizzie Rose is a lady despite her situation. She uses proper English, grammar and diction. She would like to rise above her condition and bring Parsefall along. She considers him her brother. Lizzie Rose is goodness itself. She is the kind of saint who strives to be her best, but always worries that she does not do good enough. If there was a voice that told the story with the most clarity, it was Lizzie Rose.

It is this trio, performing their puppet show in the square that Clara Wintermute stumbles upon and with which she falls in love. Clara’s life is one of mourning. Her four siblings all died from the cholera and her mother has not recovered in seven long years. Clara has suffered for it and she longs for some happiness. So she convinces her father, a wealthy doctor, to hire the Puppet Master to provide the entertainment at her twelfth birthday party. Clara goes a step further and arranges to have tea with the children, Parsefall and Lizzie Rose prior to the performance. It is enough to make an impression upon them.

This impression saves Clara’s life. The magician has more in mind than a mere performance. A wealthy family in mourning for several dead children would be willing to pay anything to get their remaining daughter… back. Yes, Clara is kidnapped, but before the ransom can be paid, the witch summons the magician to her side with the opal. The magician cannot ignore the summons, not even for 10,000 pounds. The magician disappears and Clara is hidden under Parsefall and Lizzie Rose’s noses. And then the adventure begins!

This is not a quick read. It might be children’s literature, but it is rich and worthy of time and patience. It is meant to be savored. It is Victorian Gothic full of the morbid and macabre. The villains are evil and the heroes are flawed. The ending was richly rewarding and satisfying. I am recommending this magnificent work to avid readers, sixth grade and up. I bet girls will take to it better than boys. Parsefall is a boy of few words and many talents.

Shatterproof

Shatterproof by Roland Smith

This could very easily be the 39 Clues book with which I decide to finish – forever – and not look back. It was that bad, boring, uneventful.  It is a shame to say this since an important character is actually killed. That ought to be important. That should mean something. But there was no suspense and no surprise and no good reason. The plot didn’t go anywhere. Even the huge diamond on the cover of the book is really irrelevant to the plot of the story. It is such a minute and inconsequential part to wind up upon the cover.

When I put the book down and looked back on what I had just read, I realized that it was very dissimilar to the previous three books in the Cahills Vs.Vespers series. I went back and reread my reviews of those novels and was surprised that I found any interest in them. I was surprised at how much I seemed to know about the plot and the characters and their actions. Why they were where they were and for what goal they were working towards. Because after reading this most recent addition to the series, I don’t think I could have explained any of it without the help of the reviews.

In this case, Dan and Amy, along with Atticus and Jake, are asked to steal an obscenely huge and priceless diamond from a German museum. But in the end, they were only creating a diversion for another, separate, Vesper theft in the background. The Cahill’s mission was not the actual goal.

The group back in the states who are trying to locate the hostages, make very little of an appearance in the book. And when they do make a brief appearance, no real information exchanges hands. Ian goes at it with Saladin the cat – and that is it!

I couldn’t remember why Jonah and Hamilton were in Pompeii in the first place. It wasn’t reiterated. Here they tail Luna. They even follow her out of country, but I don’t know why and what that has to do with their original mission of going to the cities - cities that the lawyer directed them to because they were so vitally important.

Amazingly, the hostages finally manage to escape. Exasperatingly they are immediately recaptured save one who may or may not be dead. We finally find out where the hostages are being held. The reader does anyway, but not the characters that are desperate for such information…

Amy and Dan are sent on yet another clue hunt in the middle of a desert. They have very little information and a tremendous number of “libraries” to squirrel through. And of course, as always, a ridiculously limited amount of time in which look. There is absolutely no way that they will be able to succeed. But they do.  Kind of.

HUGE disappointment on all fronts. Please stop. This is sooo less of a well-developed series compared to the original 39 Clues. It’s a laughable money machine. OR the author is inept at least where this series is concerned. Perhaps he just got handed the worst section of the series.

The 39 Clues: Cahills Vs. Vespers
Book 1: The Medusa Plot
Book 2: A King's Ransom
Book 3: The Dead of Night

Three Times Lucky

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (audio book)

You never know what you are going to get. Three Times Lucky was another book I had checked out because it was getting Newbery attention. And I wasn’t excited for one reason – the word “lucky” in the title. I am utterly serious. In 2007, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron won the Newbery Award and I downright despised it. That book might be the very one that began my love/hate relationship with the Newbery Committees. I look forward to award announcements with spastic excitement and lambast their decision with equal fervor. I am a librarian, what can I say – I want books that I can actually recommend to my young patrons. So when Three Times Lucky received a Newbery Honor, I was resigned to read it.

No, it is not Bomb, not even close, but it blows Ivan out of the water, easily, for me. I had just finished the choppy, disjointed, fictional docu/biography No Crystal Stair and I was in need of beautiful, flowing language. Three Times Lucky had it – readability – to give in abundance. From the first page I was hooked. I was in love. Here were kids, characters, free to roam and do as they please, including running the town café when the adults are in absentia. Pure fiction in my mind, but I don’t, in fact – mind.

Moses LoBeau and her best friend Dale Earnhardt Johnson III spend their summers fishing and serving up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Mountain Dew at Mo’s adoptive parents’ Café. But this summer, these “rising sixth graders” will be too busy to do either. This summer, the kids will become the “Desperado Detective Service” solving murder mysteries and locating lost felines.

There is more than one mystery to solve in this novel. Mo LoBeau is in search of her “Upstream Mother.” Mo was blown into Tupelo Landing, on the winds of a hurricane, lashed to a raft. Mo was discovered and rescued by a man known as the Colonel who would become her father. The Colonel is a mystery as well. He doesn’t remember the person he was before the accident that placed him on the scene of Mo’s blustery arrival. However, the book surrounds the mystery of the murder of Mr. Jesse, a man so crotchety that no one is sorry to see him go except the Sheriff who must find the killer.

If I had any complaint with this book, it was that there were two too many twists and turns towards the end. Confusion was added when a secondary character known by her surname, started being referred to by her first name. However, the list of quirky characters served up with a dose of southern slang, more than made up for such paltry complaints. I can picture this book being played out on Broadway. The characters are big enough to hold an audience. There is already a sequel in the works!